The long-term effects of school closures

“According to the World Bank, around 1.6 billion school children were affected by Covid-related school and childcare centre closures at their peak. This column uses a model that features public schooling as an input into the human capital production of children, as well as the monetary and time investment of parents into their children. The results suggest that school and childcare closures have significant negative long-term consequences on the human capital and welfare of the affected children, especially those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. The loss in schooling and associated human capital accumulation is harder to offset the longer the crisis lasts.”